Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Wednesday said President Obama was equipped to turn around the global economy, but was critical of U.S. trade policy.

Pushing for cooperation between the U.S., China, India and Europe in global trade, Brown said the U.S. needs to refocus some of its economic policies.

"You, America, need to export to the rest of the world," the former Labour Party leader said on MSNBC's Morning Joe. "You can't stimulate your economy simply by domestic consumption or public spending or public investment. You need to sell to the rest of the world. China needs to grow, and it needs to sell to Europe and America. That's the basis of a global growth agreement."

Brown said that while he was prime minister of the U.K. in 2009, Obama and other world leaders made an agreement to boost trade globally. But the currency war with China and the European debt crisis have slowed progress, he said.

"All the attempts at international economic cooperation have failed," Brown said. "There's no inflation problem that's preventing growth moving forward ... America in particular should be looking to sell to the rest of the world. You've got the best technology in the world. You should be doing even better."

China has been a contentious topic in the presidential election recently, as both campaigns have attacked each other's China policy. On Wednesday, the Obama campaign released an online video attacking a Romney line that China is "stealing American ideas and technology." Obama's campaign claims that as an investor, Romney made money on Chinese companies that hurt the U.S.

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